Angel City Brewing Reborn as Development Lab for the Boston Beer Co: Alan Newman, the founder of Magic Hat Brewing, is brought out of retirement by Boston Beer Co’s Jim Koch to head the new “craft beer incubator” Alchemy and Science, and Alan is interviewed about how he will make an impact on craft beer in Los Angeles. (Burlington Free Press)

Cascade Hops are synonymous with the American Pale Ale, and the citrusy and piney aroma that it lends to a beer is distinctive and very popular with brewers. Surprisingly Stone Brewing Co had never used cascade hops in any of their beers until 2012! According to The Stone Blog when Stone founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner were developing their signature Pale Ale they wanted to be sure to distance it from the popular Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and so they chose a very different hop schedule centered on Columbus hops. And for over the next 15 years they never used the popular Cascade variety. Read more →

Dan over at thefullpint.com expresses his ire at the craft beer industry’s attempts to cash in on the popularity of India Pale Ales with a constant parade of new “styles” and off-shoots. We touched on this in our Get to Know a Style: IPA, and Dan is concerned that core features of an IPA; color, hops, and balance, are not being adhered to by all the white IPAs and black IPAs and hop-free IPAs that brewers are developing. Read more →

Hamish, a friend of the site’s and all-around righteous Kiwi, recently returned to Los Angeles from his homeland with his luggage brimming with New Zealand brewed beers. He invited some local beer nerds over to his pad one Friday for a horizontal tasting of his bounty from the southern hemisphere. There were six or seven tasters and the bottles ranged from 12oz to 22oz bombers so our pours were small, but they were enough to get an impression of the brews and make some determinations about our favorites. Read more →

On a bright and crisp Sunday in March LA’s newest craft brewery, Golden Road Brewing, opened their doors and tapped some kegs for a low-key beer festival to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation. The event was held on the brewery’s campus in the big blue building that houses Golden Road’s brew-house, fermenters, and canning line. This was one of the few occasions that the public has been able to tour the sprawling facility, and Beer of Tomorrow was there for a behind the scenes look and taste of the best canned beer coming out of Los Angeles. Read more →